John Dane III spent 40 years trying to make the U.S. Olympic sailing team. In the meantime, he created a megayacht company called Trinity Yachts in New Orleans.

But his plant and the area around it was all destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. John says he could have taken the insurance check and run off, but he dedicated himself to making Trinity one of Katrina’s biggest comeback stories. Trinity has just become the biggest superyacht builder in the United States.

But back to the Olympics, in preparing for Beijing, he enlisted a sailing coach to help him in the water, a physical trainer to get him in the best shape of his life, and his brother-in-law as his crew member. It was a true intergenerational team. At 58, John was the oldest member of the U.S. Olympic team, and he said the experience was well worth the wait.